Mogul finds his beds are always clean

The boss has come to town, and top room service is guaranteed. J. Willard Marriott checks in at the Marriott in Melbourne.
Picture: Paul Harris

It's not everyday a "name" comes to Australia - the founder of a global conglomerate, whose surname is enough to signify his status.

This weekend J.W. Marriott decided to make his first visit to Australia just short of his 72nd birthday, and used the occasion to talk up expansion plans.

After almost six decades in the business, and controlling 2700 hotel properties worldwide as part of Marriott International group, J. Willard Marriott jnr came "down under" to see for himself.

"Australia's got a terrific image and it's a great ally to the United States . . . so I wanted to get over here to have a look," he said in Melbourne, the first destination on a whistlestop tour of the country.

Marriott sees room in Australia for at least three to four hotels to open under the Marriott group, including two luxury brands not in Australia - a Ritz-Carlton and a JW Marriott hotel, the latter named after him as the most exclusive in the Marriott chain.

He is also expanding the Courtyard brand in Australia, opening the third hotel under that banner in North Sydney later this year. Melbourne, however, will miss out on any five-star expansion, as it is considered oversupplied at the top end of the market.

Marriott's general manger for Australia, Allison Hood, says rather than starting from scratch for new hotel sites in Australia, the Marriott group would probably look at taking over the management of existing hotels.

"There's always room for good brands, but not always room for more hotels," she says.

Marriott says the hotel business is much more competitive than when he started the company's first motor-inn, called Twin Bridges, in Arlington, Virginia, in the late 1950s.

"It's a lot more sophisticated today, consumers have got a lot more top-line hotels to choose from which weren't around 20 years ago," he says.

He says the company's culture has allowed Marriott to flourish.

"It's people that are important, it's good to look after your employees," he says.

He says this does not necessarily mean he pays more than his competitors - rather that he gives more opportunity to advance quicker.

Marriott travels almost 200,000 kilometres each year to visit Marriott International hotels, which are made up of the Marriott, JW Marriott, Ritz-Carlton, Renaissance and Ramada International brands among others.

When he arrived in Australia late on Friday, it took him less than three hours to complete a review of the Marriott hotel in Melbourne's CBD, walking around and greeting staff and customers.

"My room was very clean, but then my room always tends to be clean," he says with a grin.